The Most Important Thing Parents Can Do at
Home to Help Children Do Their Best in School

John H. Wherry, Ed.D.
President, The Parent Institute

The overwhelming conclusion of parent involvement research over the years is that what parents do at home has a critical influence on their children's success in school. And, if somehow we could gather all the researchers in a room and ask them to name the single most important thing parents could do to help their children learn, I am confident they would answer: “Read to children, listen to them read to you and help them build a love of reading.”

That's why The Parent Institute has developed the Building Readers newsletter and a variety of other materials which schools can use to encourage parents to use the powerful influence they have on their children to encourage reading.

Following are some excerpts from an online summary of parent involvement research you'll find on The Parent Institute website.

• Home learning activities such as reading aloud, and frequent open family discussions are associated with improved student achievement.³⁷
• A study of 1,900 elementary children in London found that when schools encouraged children to practice reading at home with parents, they made highly significant gains in reading achievement compared to children who practiced only at school with teachers.³⁸
• When parents read to their children or listen to their children read on a regular basis (regardless of the home language in which the reading occurs), children's reading achievement improved. Moreover, small group instruction during the school day by highly competent specialists did not produce gains comparable to those obtained in parental involvement programs.³⁹

—This information was prepared by Dr. John H. Wherry, President, The Parent Institute, "Education's #1 Source for Family Involvement Information," P.O. Box 7474, Fairfax Station, VA 22039-7474, 1-800-756-5525. The Parent Institute publishes a wide range of parent involvement materials for schools to distribute to parents, including newsletters, booklets, pamphlets and videotapes as well as an automatic service providing daily-updated parent involvement information to parents through schools' own websites. For details, visit The Parent Institute website at www.parent-institute.com. Permission is granted for noncommercial reproduction of this material if this credit message is included.

³⁷ Epstein, J.L. (1991) Effects on Student Achievement of Teacher Practices of Parent Involvement. In S. Silvern (ed.) Advances in Reading/Language Research, Vol. 5. Literacy Through Family, Community and School Interaction. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.

³⁸ Tizard, J.; Schofield, W.N.; & Hewison, J. (1982). Collaboration Between Teachers and Parents in Assisting Children's Reading. British Journal of Educational Psychology (52, Part 1): 1-11.

³⁹ Cummins, J. (1986) Empowering Minority Students: A Framework for Intervention. Harvard Educational Review, 56 (1), 18-36. Tizard, J.; Schofield, W.N.; & Hewison, J. (1982). Collaboration Between Teachers and Parents in Assisting Children's Reading. British Journal of Educational Psychology (52, Part 1): 1-11. Toomey, D. (1986, February). Home-School Relations and Equality in Education. School of Education, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. Address given to a conference on Education and the Family, Brigham Young University. Topping, K. & Wolfendale, S. (eds.) (1985). Parental Involvement in Children's Reading. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 52 (1) 1-11.

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